44 Algerian Healthcare Workers Die From COVID-19

Archive photo of the capital, Algiers, during the lockdown in June (AFP)
Archive photo of the capital, Algiers, during the lockdown in June (AFP)
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44 Algerian Healthcare Workers Die From COVID-19

Archive photo of the capital, Algiers, during the lockdown in June (AFP)
Archive photo of the capital, Algiers, during the lockdown in June (AFP)

More than 2,300 healthcare workers in Algeria have been infected with COVID-19, 44 of which have died since the pandemic’s outbreak, according to Health Minister Abderrahmane Benbouzid.

In a press statement on Tuesday, Benbouzid appealed for public support to the medical staff who are “at the forefront of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.”

He hailed their competence and professionalism, as well as the sacrifices they make in the field, stressing that they need everyone's help.

The Minister called on the entire nation to respect and implement the preventive measures imposed by the government to confront the pandemic. These include maintaining hygiene, social distancing, respecting sanitary confinement, and compulsory wearing of face masks.

Public sector hospitals and clinics have been facing great pressure due to the increase in the number of coronavirus infections, which exceeded 18,000, by an average of 600 per day.

President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said on Sunday he will issue a new bill “to protect all the country’s medical personnel and workers.”

He stressed these penalties would be “severe” and would range between “five to 10 years in prison” against any aggressor on doctors or nurses.

Some hospitals have recently seen violent acts by relatives of those infected.

In an initiative by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Endowments, a national solidarity campaign with medical staff was launched on Tuesday, dubbed “We are all with doctors against the pandemic.”

The launching campaign was overseen by Minister Yusuf Belmahdi and in the presence of Benbouzid at Mustapha Pasha University Hospital in the capital.

Belmahdi vowed to publicize the initiative throughout the country.

Under the initiative, civil society organizations are set to visit hospitals, provide support to medical personnel, and discuss their local needs.



Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
TT

Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.

Heavy Israeli airstrikes killed 12 people, including five Hezbollah fighters, in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, a security source in Lebanon said, in what Israel said was a warning to the Iran-backed group against trying to re-establish itself.

The Israeli military said the airstrikes targeted training camps used by elite Hezbollah fighters and warehouses it used to store weapons in the Bekaa Valley region of eastern Lebanon.

The airstrikes were the deadliest on the area since a US-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel last November. Bachir Khodr, governor of the Bekaa region, said seven of the dead were Syrian nationals.

Israel dealt Hezbollah heavy blows in last year's conflict, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with other commanders and destroying much of its arsenal.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday's strikes sent a "clear message" to Hezbollah, accusing it of planning to rebuild the capability to raid Israel through the elite Radwan force, Reuters reported.

Israel "will respond with maximum force to any attempt at rebuilding", he said. He added that strikes were also a message to the Lebanese government, saying it was responsible for upholding the ceasefire agreement.

There was no immediate public response from Hezbollah or from the Lebanese government to the latest Israeli strikes.

The United States has submitted a proposal to the Lebanese government aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from positions they still hold in south Lebanon.

Under the terms of the ceasefire brokered by the US and France, Lebanon's armed forces were to confiscate "all unauthorized arms", beginning in the area south of the Litani River - the zone closest to Israel.